ything that could be of service to another
invading army and rejoined Grant at Petersburg. In the November
following this great feat of arms, Lincoln was reelected President.

[Sidenote: Mobile Bay, 1864. _Hero Tales_, 303-322.]

[Sidenote: _Kearsarge_ and _Alabama_.]

433. The Blockade and the Cruisers, 1863-64.--The blockade had now
become stricter than ever. For by August, 1864, Farragut had carried his
fleet into Mobile Bay and had closed it to commerce. Sherman had taken
Savannah. Early in 1865 Charleston was abandoned, for Sherman had it at
his mercy, and Terry captured Wilmington. The South was now absolutely
dependent on its own resources, and the end could not be far off. On the
open sea, with England's aid a few vessels flew the Confederate flag.
The best known of these vessels was the _Alabama._ She was built in
England, armed with English guns, and largely manned by Englishmen. On
June 19, 1864, the United States ship _Kearsarge_ sank her off
Cherbourg, France. Englishmen were also building two ironclad
battleships for the Confederates. But the American minister at London,
Mr. Charles Francis Adams, said that if they were allowed to sail, it
would be "war." The English government thereupon bought the vessels.

[Illustration: ADMIRAL FARRAGUT.]

[Sidenote: Sherman's northern march, 1865.]

434. Sherman's March through the Carolinas, 1865.--Early in 1865
Sherman set out on the worst part of his great march. He now directed
his steps northward from Savannah toward Virginia. The Confederates
prepared to meet him. But Sherman set out before they expected him, and
thus gained a clear path for the first part of his journey. Joseph E.
Johnston now took command of the forces opposed to Sherman and did
everything he could to stop him. At one moment it seemed as if he might
succeed. He almost crushed the forward end of Sherman's army before the
rest of the soldiers could be brought to its rescue. But Sherman's
veterans were too old soldiers to be easily defeated. They first beat
back the enemy in front, and when another force appeared in the rear
they jumped to the other side of their field breastworks and defeated
that force also. Night then put an end to the combat, and by morning the
Union force was too strong to be attacked. Pressing on, Sherman reached
Goldsboro' in North Carolina. There he was joined by Terry from
Wilmington and by Schofield from Tennessee. Sherman now was strong
enough to beat any Confeder